American Athletic Conference Primed For Next Week's Meeting

May 17, 2013

Over the next day or two, representatives of the athletic departments of the colleges and universities comprising the new American Athletic Conference, at least for the 2013-14 season, will converge on Ponte Vedra, Fla., for the annual spring meeting.

Discussion is scheduled to start Monday morning and end sometime Tuesday afternoon. While that doesn’t sound like a lot of time to discuss much important business, its nothing out of the norm for these gatherings.

This new collection of schools will officially begin to be called the AAC once competition ends in the spring sports; baseball, softball, track and field, rowing and lacrosse. But while teams are still vying for championships this season they will do so under the Big East banner.

By June, the Big East will be a conference that will include Seton Hall, Providence, DePaul, St. John’s, Villanova, Marquette and Georgetown. Notre Dame will be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.

For one more year, leftovers Louisville and Rutgers will play in the AAC before the Cardinals go to the ACC and Rutgers joins the Big Ten. They will be joined this season in the AAC by UConn, South Florida, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Memphis, SMU, Houston and Temple.

East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa will join the ACC for 2014-15 after Louisville and Rutgers leave. And the Navy joins as a football only member in 2015.

On the list for discussion are a number of topics, some basically business-based, some with more wide-ranging interest.

Being that the AAC is such a new group, much time will be spent discussing conference by-laws. Much of it will originally be based on Big East traditions, but input from the new schools will be welcomed and the end result could be a constitution for the new league somewhat different than the one preceding it.

The sites for the men’s and women’s basketball championship sites for 2014 – and perhaps beyond – represent a major line item for the meetings.

Rumors have been flying about where the conference will play its championship tournaments. Hartford, the home of the women since 2004, and Mohegan Sun Arena are in play for at least one and perhaps both tournaments, especially if the new Big East or Atlantic Coast Conference wins the right to play its men’s tournament at Madison Square Garden.

A conference source cautioned Friday that those discussions may not necessarily result in a decision for either championship next week. The coaches first need to get together as a group and agree on a proposal which is then passed along to the athletic directors.

“We hope the sites are determined,” the source said. “But there is absolutely no guarantee that it will get through before the meetings end.”

The programs will also discuss the many rule changes being proposed by the NCAA, including bringing the 10-second half-court time limit back to women’s basketball. The WBCA will also report to the women’s basketball coaches.

There will discussions about next year’s television schedule which will include, for basketball, home and away games against each conference opponent, ending with 18 games.

One thing that may or may not be brought up is the concept of determining travel partners for next season since the AAC spans East to Southeast, South to Southwest.

Again, the coaches will be asked for their input and then pass it along to the administrators for discussion and/or approval.